1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a goalkeeper's glove and, in particular to an inner hand portion of a goalkeeper's glove which includes four front finger regions, a thumb region, a hand region, and a wrist region, the four front finger regions and the thumb region having fingertip pieces, a carrier layer covering the inner hand portion; and an external padding layer put on the carrier layer, with the external padding layer having thickenings provided in regions of the fingertip pieces of the front finger regions, the thumb region, and in a transition region between the hand and wrist regions, and with the thickness of respective thickenings increasing in directions from the hand region toward the wrist region and toward free ends of the finger and thumb regions, respectively, so that the thickening portions of the padding layer form a cavity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German Patent No. 2,721,538 discloses a goalkeeper's glove of the above-described type in which the thickenings of the finger regions, the thumb region, and the transitional region between the hand and wrist region form a cavity the shape of which corresponds to that of a ball only to a very small degree. The external padding layer is formed of an elastic foamed material and is cast on a finished glove, with the inner hand portion being already connected with other conventional elements of the glove.
The inner hand portion forms seam additions that project into the interior of the goalkeeper's glove. The padding layer does not cover these seam additions, i.e., it does not form any seam additions. The thickenings of the front finger regions project over the fingertip pieces as claws, increasing the operational length of the finger portions. The thickenings likewise do not cover the seam additions of the inner hand portion. The foamed material, which is cast over the finished glove, because of the claw-like extension, should be relatively stiff. Therefore, the foamed material has a relatively smooth, i.e., outer surface with insignificant gripping properties. The insignificant gripping properties adversely affect the ball catching characteristics of a goalkeeper's glove.
German Utility Model No. 29600843 discloses a goalkeeper's glove in which the padding layer covering the inner hand portion is formed as a latex layer having a uniform thickness over its entire extent. The inner hand portion is covered with the latex layer independently of other conventional elements of a goalkeeper's glove. The latex layer forms seam additions of the inner hand portions over the carrier layer. In the finished goalkeeper's glove, the seam additions extend outward. The latex layer forms a slightly sucking, i.e., well gripping outer surface and improves the ball catching characteristics of a goalkeeper's glove. The attempts so substitute the foamed padding in the known goalkeeper's glove disclosed in German patent No. 2,721,538 by a latex layer were not successful because the latex layer does not land itself to casting on the inner hand portion of the finished goalkeeper's glove and, besides, the claw-like extensions formed of latex are so weak that they loose their intended function.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a goalkeeper's glove with a padding layer with thickenings and the outer surface of which has good gripping properties so that ball catching characteristics of a goalkeeper's glove are improved.